Kings International College

Store Street Manchester M1 2WD T 0300 123 4234 www.gov.uk/ofsted

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Mrs Joanne Luhman Headteacher Kings International College Watchetts Drive Camberley Surrey GU15 2PQ

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Short inspection of Kings International College

Following my visit to the school on 26 March 2019 with Nicholas Simmonds, Ofsted Inspector, I write on behalf of Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector of Education, Children’s Services and Skills to report the inspection findings. The visit was the first short inspection carried out since the school was judged to be good in January 2016.

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Short inspection of Kings International College

Based on the evidence gathered during this short inspection, I have identified some priorities for improvement which I advise the school to address. In light of these priorities, the school’s next inspection will be a full section 5 inspection. There is

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no change to the school’s current overall effectiveness grade of good as a

Since you took up the post of headteacher in January 2018, you have worked tirelessly to improve the aspects of the school that had declined since the time of the previous inspection. You have a clear vision for the school that is ambitious and all-encompassing. You have the gained the respect and support of staff and pupils, who recognise the positive impact of the changes that have already taken place. You are successfully gaining the confidence of the local community. The group of pupils who will become Year 7 in September will be the largest cohort to join the school for many years. You have reintroduced training and support for teachers to enable them to expand their skills. Consequently, staff morale is high. Staff who completed the online survey are proud to work at the school and feel that they are treated fairly and with respect.

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no change to the school’s current overall effectiveness grade of good as a

Pupils behave in a mature manner around the school and in lessons. When pupils spoke to inspectors informally and in meetings, they were keen to tell us their views of how the school has improved during the past year. For example, pupils in Year 11 told us how your banning of the use of mobile phones in school has had a very positive impact on behaviour. Pupils feel very well cared for as a result of the nurturing pastoral system and the new staff you have appointed to support their well-being. Many parents contributed extremely positive comments to us, typically summarised as, ‘This school is exceptionally caring and fosters a wonderful sense of self confidence and well-being, as well as having high academic standards.’

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no change to the school’s current overall effectiveness grade of good as a

The small size and inexperience of the senior leadership team means that some of the changes that you have introduced have not yet led to the outcomes that you are seeking. Governors recognise that the capacity of senior leadership needs strengthening and they are taking appropriate remedial action to resolve this. Leaders are aware of the priorities for improvement, but plans are not thorough or precise enough to lead to rapid improvement. Leaders are not systematically evaluating the impact of their work. Consequently, some of the weaknesses identified during the previous inspection still exist. You are acutely aware of the need to intensify the work of subject leaders to ensure that teachers are more accurately meeting the needs of different pupils.

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no change to the school’s current overall effectiveness grade of good as a

You have wisely made staffing changes to focus on attendance and, through the determination to work closely with families, attendance overall has improved so that it is now close to the national average. The overall percentage of pupils who are persistently absent has decreased, but staff are not yet thoroughly analysing the groups of pupils who do not yet attend school frequently enough.

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no change to the school’s current overall effectiveness grade of good as a

Last year, pupils in Year 11, especially boys and those who were disadvantaged or had special educational needs and/or disabilities (SEND), did not make the progress of which they were capable. While there are some signs of pupils’ progress being closer to the standard expected from their different starting points, it is not consistent across all subjects and groups of pupils. Most teachers know their pupils well but not all are using effective strategies in lessons to ensure that all pupils make sufficient progress.

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no change to the school’s current overall effectiveness grade of good as a

Leaders are developing a strong culture of safeguarding within the school. The leadership team has ensured that all safeguarding arrangements are fit for purpose. Teachers are thoroughly checked before they join the school. Records are methodically kept and securely stored. The safeguarding team works well with the local authority and other external agencies who support pupils when needed. Members of staff closely communicate with off-site providers who educate a small number of the school’s pupils, and careful monitoring ensures that the pupils remain safe.

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no change to the school’s current overall effectiveness grade of good as a

Leaders have appointed an effective team of staff with specific responsibilities for safeguarding who are well trained and monitor pupils’ welfare closely. All members of staff know their responsibilities for passing on information and the process to follow if they are concerned. Governors frequently meet with staff to keep up-to- date with safeguarding arrangements. Governors fulfil their responsibilities for safeguarding diligently.

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no change to the school’s current overall effectiveness grade of good as a

Pupils who we interviewed, as well as pupils and their parents who responded to the online questionnaire, felt that pupils are safe in school. Pupils do not feel at risk of being bullied by other pupils and the majority are confident that teachers deal with bullying quickly and successfully if it occurs. Pupils sense that they are very well cared for by staff at this school. Pupils appreciate that they are taught to keep themselves safe through personal, social and health lessons, personal development days and in some other subjects, including religious education. Consequently, pupils know the dangers associated with risk-taking activities.

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Inspection findings

 During the inspection, we agreed to consider how effectively leaders were targeting the additional funding for disadvantaged pupils and those with SEND to improve their progress. In recent years, governors have not used the funding for disadvantaged pupils appropriately. You now have a plan in place but you have not considered how the impact is to be measured and evaluated.  Some teachers are planning lessons thoughtfully so that disadvantaged pupils are making progress in their learning that is equal to others from similar starting points. However, in some lessons, disadvantaged pupils’ work is disorganised or missing from their books and teachers are not noticing this quickly enough.  The specialist team in the Accelerated Learning Centre supports pupils with SEND well. In lessons with their peers, pupils with specific needs have suitable equipment and tools provided to help them. Teachers are not always checking

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Inspection findings

that pupils with SEND and who have low prior attainment understand what is required of them. Pupils are then slow to start their work and some become anxious.  Secondly, we looked at how you had revised the curriculum to lead to better outcomes for pupils. Immediately after taking up your post, you reviewed the curriculum with the intent of improving pupils’ engagement. Leaders have made structural changes to the timetable that have contributed to improvements in attendance.  Leaders are keeping the curriculum under review and considering the impact on pupils’ destinations. Leaders have not yet specified how knowledge and skills are being taught progressively across different subjects and year groups. Consequently, in some lessons, pupils are repeating what they have learned previously and tasks are too simple.  Providing pupils with a wider range of subjects has resulted in pupils enjoying learning and engagement in most lessons is now remarkable. However, pupils’

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Inspection findings

engagement wanes in lessons when teachers present them with unchallenging tasks.  Pupils in key stage 4 told us that while careers advice has helped them choose options for post-16, they would have liked to have more effective guidance when opting for subjects during Year 9.  As a third line of enquiry, we looked at the actions that senior and middle leaders had taken to increase the progress of pupils, especially boys, in English. Leaders consider that pupils’ low progress in English last year was related to instability in staffing, teachers being unfamiliar with the new GCSE syllabus and the low literacy skills that pupils bring when they join the school.  Pupils in key stage 4 are now making more progress in English and teachers are deploying a range of effective approaches, in particular associated with reading, in order to improve boys’ outcomes. Work in most pupils’ books is of a good standard. The speaking and listening work of the most able pupils in Year 11 is

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Inspection findings

well researched, expertly presented and thoughtfully challenged by their peers. Leaders should ensure that there are similar strengths in key stage 3 by closely monitoring the quality of teaching and pupils’ progress.  Finally, as pupils’ progress at the end of Year 11 last year was significantly higher in mathematics than all other subjects, we looked out how leaders are sharing good practice across other departments in the school. Leaders and teachers reported that the successes were attributed to some very effective teachers who now have left the school. The low level of current pupils’ work in mathematics, except for the most able, does not give confidence that the standards achieved last year will be sustained.  Mathematics teachers have researched and trialled extending pupils’ literacy in mathematics, and plan to share the impact with geography and science teachers.

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Next steps for the school

Leaders and those responsible for governance should ensure that:

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Next steps for the school

 the capacity and strength of senior and middle leadership are reviewed to ensure that the headteacher’s ambitious vision for the school is realised  strategies proven to rapidly improve the attendance of pupils overall are continued and focus intensively on the groups who continue to be frequently absent  plans to the improve the outcomes of pupils who are disadvantaged and/or those with SEND are reviewed, revised and implemented to lead to pupils making the progress of which they are capable  teachers consistently challenge the most able and support those who need to catch up, particularly in mixed-ability classes.

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Next steps for the school

I am copying this letter to the chair of the governing body, the regional schools commissioner and the director of children’s services for Surrey. This letter will be published on the Ofsted website.

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Information about the inspection

We held meetings with you, other school senior and middle leaders, the chair and vice-chair of the governing body, and groups of pupils in Year 8 and Year 11. We observed pupils’ learning in a series of short visits to lessons. All of these were conducted jointly with senior members of staff. We scrutinised a wide range of the school’s documentation, including the single central register, and checked for evidence of safer recruitment. We looked at the school’s self-evaluation and improvement plan, the pupil premium strategy, safeguarding, child-protection records, and information about pupils’ achievement and attendance. We considered the views expressed in 70 responses by parents to Ofsted’s online survey, Parent View, and the 72 free-text comments by parents, together with 270 questionnaires returned by pupils and 51 by members of staff.

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